Fake Rahul Gandhi aide sent to 14-day judicial custody in multi-crore Congress scam

A 42-year-old man accused of posing as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s personal secretary to allegedly cheat party leaders of crores of rupees has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Uttarakhand.

The accused, identified as Gaurav Kumar from Amritsar, was arrested by Dehradun Police after allegedly duping several Congress leaders across different states by promising them election tickets and influential party posts.

Police said they are preparing to seek custody remand of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation expands into a possible nationwide political fraud network.

The case surfaced after Dehradun-based Congress leader Bhavana Pandey filed a complaint at Rajpur police station on May 3, alleging that she was cheated of Rs 25 lakh by a man claiming to be close to the Congress high command.

According to the complaint, the accused allegedly convinced her that he could arrange a senior position within the party and even made her listen to voices purportedly belonging to top Congress leaders during phone conversations staged from a hotel in Dehradun.

Believing the claims, Pandey allegedly handed over the money through an associate of the accused. The suspect later stopped responding to calls, prompting her to approach the police.

Investigators said the accused created a fake Truecaller profile using the name of Kanishk Singh, who previously served as Rahul Gandhi’s personal secretary. Police traced the suspect through CCTV footage and intelligence inputs before arresting him from the Jakhan area of Dehradun while he was allegedly attempting another collection.

Police further revealed that Kumar, along with associates from Punjab, allegedly gathered details of Congress leaders from public databases and websites before targeting them across Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

Authorities said multiple cases had already been registered against the accused in Rajasthan, Bihar and Haryana in connection with similar frauds.

Investigators suspect several more political leaders may have fallen victim to the scam, but many allegedly avoided reporting the incidents due to embarrassment and reputational concerns.